Tuesday, 29 March 2016

So March 27th 2016 became an important date in the history of Yorkshire Birding and in UK Migration.It's an exciting new chapter for SBO , 70 years since its beginnings in 1946 by John Lord, Ralph Chislett, George Ainsworth & RM Garnett. A lot of time and hard work has gone into the new building by the SBO Committee and volunteers, and it shows.

Bookings are already being taken to stay at the new Observatory, just check the website below for details.

http://www.spurnbirdobservatory.co.uk/staying-at-spurn/

SBO Patron and TV Naturalist Mike Dilger made the journey up from Bristol to officially open the new observatory. SBO Chairman Rob Adams addressed the good sized crowd that had arrived for this important occasion, thanking volunteers and Friends Of Spurn Members for enabling this to be possible.

Rob Adams with Mike Dilger

Rob then introduced Mike who gave a fantastic speech including a fitting tribute to the late, great Martin Garner who tragically passed away earlier this year and also mentioned the amazing new book coming out soon on The Birds Of Spurn by Andy Roadhouse(details also on the SBO website)

Mike then proceeded to lift the curtain on this new chapter in SBO history despite the struggles against the strong winds.

Mike struggling with the curtain and.....

...reacting to shouts of "Should've got Chris Packham!"

Free drinks and food were available as everyone congregated in the Observatory to chat about birding, wildlife and the future of Spurn.In here we also got to see Findlay and Heather Wilde again :)

With Mike.

We had arrived 5 hours previously to the opening so had plenty of time to walk around the wild beauty of Spurn Nature Reserve. Skylarks were trying their best to be heard over the North Sea winds while Snipe probed in the long grass for food.

Oystercatchers, Shelducks, Curlews, Redshanks and Ringed Plover were all seen along the Humber Estuary.

Spurn Lighthouse with Oystercatchers in the foreground.

Dozens of Brent Geese arrived jostling for position to feed on the succulent grasses now exposed by the receding tide.

Inland to the more sheltered Church Field we watched Chiffchaffs, a Willow Warbler and numerous Goldcrests while hoping to get a view of the Firecrest that was in the area.We didn't see the Firecrest but we did meet some new friends Linda & Ron Lowndes with whom we had a good chat about all things wild.If you are reading this Linda & Ron, it was great to meet you both :)

Goldcrests

We also had a close encounter of the furry kind with a curious Weasel that checked us out a few times before deciding we were harmless enough and just continued its exploration of the field edge.

All in all it was a fantastic day in an amazing place.It was great to meet new friends and old and be there for the beginning of this new chapter for Spurn Bird Observatory.

Cannot wait til September and the next Spurn MigFest :)

See you all there.

For all the recent sightings, booking accommodation, ordering Andy's Birds Of Spurn book or to help and become a Friends Of Spurn member please go to the SBO website below.